Soledad Álvarez Velasco

Dr. Soledad Álvarez Velasco is a former Assistant Professor of 'Migration and the Americas' affiliated with the Heidelberg Center for Ibero-American Studies (HCIAS) at Heidelberg University. She cooperates with the Faculty of Chemistry and Earth Sciences, Institute of Geography, and Heidelberg Center for American Studies (HCA). Her research focuses on mobility, control, and spatial transformations in migration corridors across the Americas, particularly analyzing undocumented south-north migration and U.S. border externalization policies. She holds a PhD in Human Geography from King’s College London, a Master’s in Social Anthropology from Universidad Iberoamericana (Mexico), and a Bachelor’s in Sociology from Universidad San Francisco (Ecuador).

Her current research includes a book project on Ecuador’s role as a global transit space for undocumented migrants, and an analysis of pandemic impacts on migratory corridors. She leads the transnational '(Im)Mobilities in the Americas and COVID-19' project. She has published in Journal of Latin American Geography, Périplos, and Anales de Antropología, focusing on migrant struggles, smuggling networks, and spatial politics.

Teaching includes courses on migration theories and diaspora cultures. She collaborates with Colectiva Infancia (awarded a National Geographic grant for child migration research) and editorial boards like Refugees and Conflict. Her work bridges critical geography and feminist approaches, emphasizing migrant-centered ethnography.